IT guy needs help badly - 1995 Corolla - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Martoch · 05-01-2007, 11:40 AM

Hello everyone!

First off, let me begin by letting you know up front that I'm an IT (computer) guy and have little knowledge of car mechanics.

I'm having an issue with my 1995 Corolla DX. The car overheated due to a stuck thermostat which caused the radiator to crack. The radiator/thermostat have both been replaced, but I still have an issue. Once the car is warmed up (about 5 mins), I can't rev the engine past 3200-3500 RPM whether I'm in gear or neutral...the car revs up and down in the 3200-3500 RPM range even if I put the pedal to the floor. The check engine light (CEL) will briefly come on from time to time when I am able to rev it higher on occasion. I'm being "rev limited" by something and I've been told it's probably either the coolant temperature sensor or the catalytic converter. Could the overheating have caused an issue with the coolant temperature sensor?
The spark plugs/wires and fuel filter have been replaced and the issue still exists. The local Toyota dealership can put it on their computer in the morning for $90 and said it "should" indicate exactly where the problem lies...then comes the additional $$ to fix it. I'm up for replacing the coolant temperature sensor myself as I'm currently out of work and can't really afford to dish out the money to have it fixed at the shop.

Auto Zone/Advanced Auto weren't able to pull the CEL codes because they only have the ODB-2 sensor and my car requires the older ODB-1.

I did have a few people mention the oxygen sensor, but the actual mechanics that I spoke with said that it wouldn't cause the problem I'm having. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

I greatly appreciate your time and suggestions/advice!
Mike the UNmechanic

retiredat44 · 05-01-2007, 12:42 PM

when the engine overheated, how bad was it overheated?

Martoch · 05-01-2007, 12:46 PM

I don't know exactly how badly it overheated, but it was enough to crack my radiator (the original one from 1995). From what I'm being told, the coolant temperature sensor may be malfunctioning...it's sensing that my engine is overheating (even though it's not), so it's rev limiting me to protect the engine from heat damage due to higher RPM. Does that seem to make sense? I just called and a local parts store has a coolant temperature sensor for $28, which would be music to my ears if it fixes my problem.

retiredat44 · 05-01-2007, 01:26 PM

I am not sure if a shop can find out and tel you if you cooked your engine. Maybe the bearing, and/or pistons were damaged by heat. That can prevent an engine from reving past a certain RPM. But, that may take some diagnostics. I a assuming you don't hear any rattles while reving the engine, or any tightness in it? When you rev it, and then you lift off the gas, very fast, yank your foot off the pedal how fast does the engine return to idle, it should drop fast, but not too fast,, it should kinda drop medium fast. if it drops to idle immediately, it could be tight, form heating, or if it rattles, expecially under load, like up a hill or when trying to aceelerate would be cooked bearings, but cooked pistions might not show up, unless it starts consuming lots of oil...

It's so hard to figure this out at home without the proper tools...

Nutter · 05-01-2007, 01:47 PM

Honestly, you may not want to hear it but you'd be best to try and have it professionally diagnosed. There's no telling what could have happened. Most reputable places will diagnose it for free (or rather credit the diagnosis fee towards the cost of repairs) if you get the problem fixed there. So while it may cost you $90.00 to diagnose, that is usually applied to what you spend to get it fixed, not in addition to it. If the local dealership won't do that, i'd call around to some local repair places that have the equipment to properly diagnose it because I'm sure one of them will. Just my $.02.

Martoch · 05-01-2007, 06:44 PM

Yep, I'm at that point where I need it diagnosed...hopefully it will actually show what's wrong. I can't afford to drop $90 for nothing.

streetracero1 · 05-01-2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martoch

Yep, I'm at that point where I need it diagnosed...hopefully it will actually show what's wrong. I can't afford to drop $90 for nothing.

for 90$ they'll be able to tell you what the problem is. is it really worth caving the money to drive the car any way then blow the engine up rather tehn spend the money to get it fixed? you might be able to get a local shop to fix it for cheaper, dealerships are known to be more expensive

94_Rolla_Guy · 05-01-2007, 07:21 PM

Jumper TE1 and E1 in the diagonistics port located on the drivers strut tower with a short piece of wire turn the key to the on position (dont start it) and count the CEL blinks it will blink the first digit then take a short break then blink the second digit then take a longer brake then repeat for aditional codes then take a long break then repeat all over again.

After try googleing the codes if your unsucessful come back here and post some one should help ya

also stick your head under the hood and check everything is hooked up because the temp sensors may have been unplugged to fix your problem...

Martoch · 05-01-2007, 08:15 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that!

Here's a short video of my engine...you can hear how it's rev limited as if I were pumping the gas pedal.
http://www.jeffcohost.com/~martoch/engine1.wmv

Martoch · 05-02-2007, 10:46 AM

Had the car diagnosed...two codes showed up. One is with the cam sensor in the distributor, which requires a distributor replacement or timing belt replacement...basically, he said the car doesn't know when to spray fuel. The other code indicates a short in the coolant temperature sensor wiring (not the sensor itself), but they don't track down shorts. The head mechanic is very confident that replacing the distributor will fix the problem.

A distributor there would cost roughly $400, but the local Advanced Auto Parts has one for $244. The place only charged me a $45 diagnostic fee, which they'll apply to the labor cost, which will be $85 at the most if it takes an entire hour.

darcsyde · 05-02-2007, 01:59 PM

it might just be the soleniod in the distributor that is bad, they are usually the first thing to go, you could get one from a local junkyard and change it out yourself

darcsyde · 05-02-2007, 02:00 PM

it might just be the soleniod in the distributor that is bad, they are usually the first thing to go, you could get one from a local junkyard and change it out yourself

Flashmn · 05-02-2007, 02:39 PM

Solenoid in the distributor.... umm... Theres no solenoid in the distributor.

retiredat44 · 05-02-2007, 03:39 PM

coil, not solenoid. But it would be very arratic, but would not limit it to lower rpm... it would jerk while driving... like it had a short... and buck back and forth like the power was being switched on and off very fast..

oh well, the dignostic tools are the best, so go with what they say..

Flashmn · 05-02-2007, 04:10 PM

Might be the ignition module.